Tentative deal averts potential Pittsburgh teachers strike

February 28, 2018

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh school district and its teacher’s union have reached a tentative three-year contract, averting a strike that was due to start this week.

The agreement reached late Tuesday night culminated a negotiating session that lasted for about 14 hours. But details about the contract won’t be released until both sides ratify the deal, a process that could take a few weeks to complete.

The city Federation of Teachers had announced Monday that its members would go on strike Friday, affecting about 25,000 students. The union represents about 3,000 teachers, paraprofessionals and technical-clerical employees at 54 schools.

Five-year contracts for union members expired in June 2015. They had sought reduced class sizes and increased support for early-childhood teachers among other requests.